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Thursday, September 13, 2012

Billy the Vampire Slayer: A New Gay Male Vampire Slayer

This
is something I’ll watch with interest and suspicion - not least of
which because the comics media in general is probably the third worst
culprit when it comes to erasing GBLT people (I’d put children’s
literature/programming and computer games ahead) and there has been a
whole lot of problems in the past (already both DC’s Green Lantern, with
extra gay-death and Northstar’s wedding, now with marital problems,
look like they’re getting shaky) so I’m disinclined to jump up and down
just yet.Still, I do like the idea of a strong gay male character - especially an action character which is very rare.I’m
just not sure why he’s “Billy the Vampire Slayer” it seems cutesy, and
rather silly. Especially since, in the Buffyverse, “Slayer” has a
meaning - it’s not just someone who fights vampires, it’s someone with
these ancestral ancient powers - which, they’ve made clear, Billy (or
any man) will not have.Which
I approve of - I actually would be against Billy having powers that are
reserved for women as it would be degendering and happens so many times
with gay men (hi Ann McCaffrey and your thrice be damned Green Riders)
if you’re going to have gendered abilities then deciding that the gay
characters cross them feels more than a little “they aren’t REAL
men/women” to me. Though a trans slayer? That would be awesome.But it does make this quote from Jane Espenson “What if someone in high school is looking up to Buffy as a role model, and we're saying: You can’t be a Slayer” Well...
no. I mean he can call himself the Slayer, but since Slayer has meaning
he can’t actually be one. That’s like saying, in JK Rowling’s universe,
“anyone can be a wizard - they can’t cast magic but they can wave a
stick around and call themselves a wizard!”It’s
my stumbling block - introduce a gay male fighter who kicks arse? Yes,
go for it, I’ll be here cheering it on. But why call him a “slayer” -
why try to make him a weak imitation of the female slayer? Why does the
gay male slayer have to covet or aspire to the female role which none of
the straight, male slayers have done? It’s not like there aren’t
already plenty of perfectly ordinary human men in the Buffyverse
fighting the good fight.Still,
as complaints go, it’s relatively minor and certainly can be written
well in a way that redeems it (make Billy’s “slayerdom” above and beyond
merely being a fighter) and I’m hoping he grows into the role as a full
character, without tropes and stereotype - we can hope, but I’m not
getting my hopes too high - my cynicism is well used and too often
right. But I hope.